The Dutch Arrow is a weapon I learned to make at scout camp last year. It was a war weapon, but it became a hunting tool and at scouts it is regarded as “ruddy good fun”. As the title suggests it is stabilised by centrifugal force, by its spinning. This is similar to the gyro spinning top toys. Usually you would be able to throw a stick around 5-8 meters, a javelin 10-18 meters but on my first throw I threw it around 30 meters and got it to hit and stick into the ground.
This is a weapon and so is capable of lethality and that is for all people within range. This includes the launcher. Don’t throw when there is wind, rain, or so on that can affect trajectory. If you screw up the throw people may be at risk and it may swing back and stab you. You make this at your own risk. This may be illegal in your area, so check. Don’t blame me.
Now that is out of the way, let’s get started!
By the way you can mix the steps up into what you want to do ( within reason ) this is just the order i did it in.
Step 1: Collect Materials
There are fairly few materials needed for this but the most important is hardest to obtain. most of these are inter-changeable so I’ll say what i used and it’s purpose:
• A 4 foot broom handle, but for some reason it was spiked. It had a end cap that I could use to keep the tail fins together. (you can use anything, really, as long as it has a 1’’ radius and is strait and is around 3-4 foot long – that depends on your height oh and wood is usually best).
• A reel of string.(length can vary but it is usually best to go for some heavier duty stuff – so it’ll last)
• An ice cream tub and it’s lid (this is for the flights, so there are loads of possibilities as to what you can use but I chose this because it’ll last, it’s thin and most of all it was to hand)
• Red Spray paint (just to make it look a bit cooler than a stick with an ice cream tub tied on the back, but the paint peals so any cooler ideas are welcome, just post below.)
The tools are fairly simple:
• A work bench (with a vice to hold the project when sawing)
• A hack saw (or other type of saw, depending on the width of your flights)
• A knife (to sharpen and cut the notch)
• A craft knife - there is a difference craft knifes are sharper and when blunted you snap the section off. (this is for cutting the ice cream tub and tidying things up)
• A bit of sand paper (to smooth down the wood and to tidy up working marks.)